Coupling for railway-vehicles.



No. 839,907. PATBNTED JAN. l, 1907. E. ULBRIGH. GOUPLING FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13, 1906.

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E ULBRIGH COUPLING FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES` APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13, 1906.

253016225021 v Wt zfw ttorfzy- ERNST ULBRICH, OF MUNICH, GERMANY.

COUPLING FOR RAILWAY-VEHICLES Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.

Application filed August 13, 1906.l Serial No. 330,291.

T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNST ULBRICH, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at Munich, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplings for Railway-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that type of couplings for railway-vehicles which are tensioned and untensioned by the displacement of the coupling member in a direction inclined to the longitudinal aXis of the coupling. Vhen untensioning, the couplingis at the same time released, which release may take place while the train is in full motion.

The object of my invention is the mounting of the said coupling member in connection with a device for displacing it.I I attain this object by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the lower half of the coupling, top half removed. Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a general view of the coupling. Figs. 4-10 are views of details. Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively a sectional plan and a sectional side view, the latter on line A A of Fig. 11, on an enlarged scale, of the middle portion of the coupling.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In carrying out my invention I divide the coupling-casing horizontally into two symmetrical halves to facilitate the fitting together of the movable parts. In front the said halves are rigidly secured together by two screw-threaded lugs a and nuts and at the rear by a socket b and a cotter, Fig. 3. To the buffer-beam a bracket c is secured, in which a spring d is located to take up the im- .pact which is transmitted to the couplingcasing by the buffer f, employed on the face of it. From the coupling-casing the impact is transmitted to the spring d and by the bracket c to the buffer-beam.

The coupling members c, consisting each of a hook and loop,'are so arranged as to be capable of horizontal and vertical movement. The hooks of the coupling members c are also furnished with springs x, Fig. 1, by means of which they are retained coupled. The coupling member e is releasably mounted on the casing, so that it can be displaced therein. The shank of the coupling member e has for this purpose lateral pivots i, Fig. 4, engaging in bearings h', Figs. 5 and 6, consisting each of a bush cut open to permit of placing the said pivots into and taking them out of the same. The said bushes are mounted in bearings in the wall of the said casing and are connected together by a fork-like arm h, which operates in connection with a rod k, displaceable in the coupling-casing. The head of this rod is forked and carries inside a pawl t, Figs. 1, 7, and 8. To the shank of the coupling member c is secured one end of a spiral spring Z, located in a tube, the other end bey ing secured to a lever m, mounted in the coupling-casing. This lever is adapted to engage in recesses I and II, formed in the rod k, and thereby move the same to tension or compress the spring Z.

To retain the rod c in its front position, it is furnished with a pawl n, Figs. 1, 9, and 10, retained by a spring 0, secured to the coupling-casing and adapted to yield when disengaging the rod k. The pawl n prevents the rod lc moving farther back than to the bracket c, Fig. 1. The rod k has a frame to which are fulcrumed two hand-levers o, connected `by rods w to the rod 7c to permit of moving the latter from the sides of the vehicle.

Fig. 1 shows the coupling when coupled. The rod lc is in its front position, also the arm h of the bearings h. The lever m is in engagement with the recess II in the rod k and the spring Ztensioned. The rod 7c is retained in this position by the pressure of the flat spring 0 upon the pawl n. If the coupling is to be released, (see dotted lines, Fig. 1,) the rod 7c is pulled back by means of the handlever o, and thereby the spring o caused to yield and allow the pawl n to disengage. The recess II in the rod 7c then brings the lever 'm into the position shown in dotted lines, the spring Z being thereby compressed. When moving back the rod 7c, (see more particularly Figs. 11 and 12,) the bearings 7L turn also until the openings therein coincide 'with a slot g, provided in the coupling-casing for the pivots c' i on the shaft of the coupling member e. The compressed spring Z then moves the liberated pivots forward in the slot g, and the continuance ofthe spring-pressure causes the coupling member e, slightly turned to one side, to lie against the couplingcasing in the position shown in dotted lines.

When releasing the coupling, the coupling TOO drawn until the lever m engages in the recess I, which separates the rod 7c from the arm h. This further movement of the rod 7c is necessary, because in rengaging the spring l has to withdraw the coupling members before the said bearings are turned into their coupling positions. The recess I thus serves to tension the spring Z in rengaging the coupling members. Thus if by means of one of the hand-levers v the rod 7c is moved i'rom the dotted position forward the recess I takes the lever m with it, and the spring l thereby tensioned pulls the coupling member into its back position, when the pawl t of the rod Yr will meet the fork of the arm h and turn the bearings 7L into the coupling position in which the pivots L on the shank ol the coupling member e are cut ol'll Yfrom the slot g. In the meantime the pawl n of the rod 7c will have passed the spring 0, which prevents the rod 7c moving back. The spring l is at such a point secured to the shank of the coupling member e as to turn it inward until the spring p thereon bears against an abutment on the coupling-casing, in which position it is retained ready for coupling.

I claim- 1. In a coupling for railway-vehicles, a coupling-casing, a laterally-movable coupling member pivoted therein, an arm fulcrumed to the pivots of the said member 'for locking it in position when coupled and a spiral spring connected with the said pivoted end 'for coupling the member previous to being locked in position and uncoupling it after having been released by the said arm, all combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a coupling for railway-vehicles, a coupling-casing having in its wall bearings and laterally-inclined slots communicating therewith, a turnable bush in each ofthe said bearings having an opening in its periphery and a coupling member having pivots engaging in the said bushes, the said slots receiving the said pivots when the said bushopenings coincide with the respective slot ends, all combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a coupling for railway-vehicles, a coupling-casing having in its wall bearings and laterally-inclined slots communicating therewith, a turnable bush in each of the said bearings open at the periphery7 a coupling member having pivots engaging in the said bushes, a spiral spring having one end secured to the pivoted end of the said member and means in connection with the other end ofthe said spring for tensioningor compressing the spring to slide the said pivot into and out of the said bushes, all combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a coupling for railway-vehicles, a coupling-casing having in its wall bearings and laterally-inclined slots communicating therewith, a turnable bush in the said bearings open at the periphery, a coupling member having pivots engaging in an arm secured to the said bushes, a slida'ble rod in the said casing having two recesses and its iront end engaging the said` arm, a spiral spring one end of which is secured to the pivoted end of the said member, a lever inside the said casing to one end of which is secured the other end of4 the said spring and the other end adapted to engage in the said recesses and means operated from the side of the vehicle for moving the said rod backward and forward, all combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ERNST ULBRICH.

` Witnesses:

ULYssEs J. BYwATER, Louis D. MUELLu 

